Joyce Theater to Buy Its Chelsea Home

September 18, 2012, 9:00 pm

By ROBIN POGREBIN

The Joyce Theater is buying its longtime home in Chelsea for $20 million and selling its SoHo location for about $27 million, according to theater officials.

The transactions, to be announced Wednesday, will not affect the Joyce's plans to be the anchor tenant at the performing arts center planned for ground zero, as the Joyce had always expected to maintain a presence in Chelsea.

The agreement grants the Joyce Theater Foundation Inc. the option to purchase the theater at 175 Eighth Avenue from the Ballet Tech Foundation Inc., Eliot Feld's academic and dance public school for underprivileged students.

The sale, which is subject to regulatory approval because the parties are nonprofit organi zations, is to be completed within three years. Since its inception in 1981, the Joyce has rented the theater for $1 a year, plus overhead, under the terms of a lease that expires in 2016.

Mr. Feld, who had been a supporter of the Joyce's mission, had said he could no longer afford the nominal rent arrangement because he needed money to build his own programs.

“We wanted to secure our future on Eighth Avenue and 19th Street,” said Linda Shelton, the Joyce's executive director. “As they say, timing is everything.”

The Joyce has also accepted an unsolicited offer of $27.25 million for its Joyce SoHo building, a rehearsal studio and 74-seat performance space for nonprofit companies that the foundation has owned since 1996. Ms. Shelton said the Joyce would replace that space in a less-costly location. The sale, which is also subject to regulatory approval, is expected to close by the end of the year.

Proceeds from the sale of Joyce SoHo, together with existing funds, will allow the purchase of the Joyce in Chelsea and the construction or renovation of a SoHo replacement. It will also provide seed money for the Joyce's future operation of a 1,000-seat theater to be constructed at the World Trade Center site.

Ballet Tech began in 1974 when Mr. Feld, the choreographer, founded the Eliot Feld Ballet. In 1978, Mr. Feld created his tuition-free ballet school for New York City public school students. In a statement, Mr. Feld called the deal with the Joyce a “happy arrangement.”